Town boss Mick McCarthy says the 3-5-2 system the Blues switched to during the second half of last week’s FA Cup defeat to Southampton is one he could use again at some stage.

McCarthy moved his team to the formation when Tyrone Mings came on as a sub and it’s a set-up he could utilise in the future.

“If I need to do it, I will,” he said. “They were dominating the ball with the three in the middle and as soon as I changed it I thought we had a good spell and stopped them a little bit more and got a bit more of the ball and a bit more joy. If needs must then, yes.”

He says the system suits central defensive trio Luke Chambers, Christophe Berra and Tommy Smith: “They’re very good, they can play that system.”

Mings and Jonny Parr could also revel in wing-back roles on the left and right respectively: “They’re both very good attacking full-backs, that is very much in vogue in football altogether, attacking full-backs coming from behind the ball.

“The two of them are pretty good at it and I thought they handled it well in terms of playing as wing-backs.”

The Town boss says he was impressed with midfielder Darren Ambrose’s performance against the Saints: “I thought Darren played well and the more games he gets, the more minutes he gets the better he will be. I’ve been pleased with Darren’s contribution.”

The FA Cup ties also saw Cameron Stewart make his first appearances for the Blues following his summer free switch from Hull.

McCarthy says the 23-year-old has been itching to get involved having had the first half of his season disrupted by a series of injuries: “He offers us something different, for sure. Hopefully a positive forward threat.

“He has been champing at the bit to get back in but he can’t because other people have been playing well in front of him.

“When you get back to your full fitness and there are people in front of you playing well and stopping you getting in, it’s frustrating for him, but it’s great for me.”

Photo: Action Images

bluefeast added 06:34 - Jan 20 Stewart needs to be used out wide , Ambrose centrally , as our wide payers over the last 3 games have been terrible.
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muccletonjoe added 07:57 - Jan 20 Have always thought a back 3 would be a good system for us as we have 3 very good central defenders and it gives us 5 men in the midfield to dictate play a bit more
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Stewart27 added 07:59 - Jan 20 Bart Chambers Berra Smith Parr Mings Skuse Bru McGoldrick Sears Murphy
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Stewart27 added 08:00 - Jan 20 That's not counting Teddy Bishop and Ambrose and Tabb as cover.
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MrBloo added 09:00 - Jan 20 It's the only way to have the three centre backs playing in their best positions. At present Chambers and Smith are out of position. Why Mick hasn't switched to this earlier is a mystery.
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gazzmac4 added 09:14 - Jan 20 Thought Anderson has been pretty good since early December Bluefeast. Although agree that Stewart would be good although not sure how he has been playing for the U21's but surely he would give us an injection out wide?
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BergholtBru added 09:40 - Jan 20 Mr Bloo. The reason Mick hasn`t switched to this system earlier is because the current system has got us to 2nd place, 1pt off top, with a total of 4 defeats all season and 12pts from the last 5 games.
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NoCanariesAllowed added 11:54 - Jan 20 It was an interesting experiment on Saturday - not least seeing Parr really showing off his forward abilities - but think we'd have to choose carefully which opponents we could use it against. What I'm most grateful for is the fact we've had a few different strategies this season that have worked. Rather than being one dimensional all season or throwing together different formations because it's never working or we don't know what our strongest team is, instead we're showing some tactical flexibility and we seem to have the personnel to implement it.

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btrevelyan added 12:57 - Jan 20 Thought this formation could suit us when we had Cressy in the team, I really like the idea of having Parr and Mings as wing backs, then Chambers will be back in the centre of defence where he plays best.
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